


A Girl Worth Fighting For

by drowninginwords



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F, royal au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 10:29:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5865958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drowninginwords/pseuds/drowninginwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm not going to finish this one guys. I'm rewriting it to an actual story, where it's much more developed, and thought through. Sorry if this disappoints you. If you want some headcanons like this fic I'll gladly give you them on tumblr. My url there is annabethsolympus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Funeral

Reyna

She holds Hylla’s hand, both of them standing over their father’s coffin. It’s a wooden one, oak, lined with pure gold. Flowers, a lot of them is on top of it, and a painting of her father is standing just below the coffin, right next to Reyna. One tear slowly runs down Hyllas chin. Reyna doesn't cry. She hasn't since the time she fell while playing outside with Hylla. But that was when she was 9. She hasn't cried in 13 years. That time, the last time she ever cried, her mother took her aside. She straightened Reynas dress, and wiped her chins with her hands. “Queens don't cry,” her mother had said. “You always have to keep a strong face, that's the only way the people will respect you.” Because that was how it was. Ever since she was 8 years old, maybe even before that, Reyna had to act like a queen. Sometimes a princess would do, as that was what she actually was, but “The sooner you get used to it, the better,” her mother said. But Reyna’s mother never got to see if Reyna would be a good queen, because she never made it past Reynas 11th birthday. Reyna didn't cry when her mother died. Not even alone in her room. She thought that would make her mother proud. Hylla had cried a lot at their mother’s funeral. She was only eight, and she hadn't been raised to be a queen. Princesses were allowed to cry, because they weren't leaders. But as it turned out, Hylla became a leader still. Two years ago, Hylla became leader for a group of girls, who’d all been denied a place in the army because of their gender. So they trained and trained, to prove themselves worthy. A lot of them were better than some men, but they still wouldn’t be allowed in the army. Reyna was a little bit relieved. Of course, if Hylla wanted to fight wars, she should be doing that, but it was dangerous. Reyna herself wouldn’t mind fighting a war, but she’d always been so protective of her little sister, and the idea of her going into battle scared her. It had scared their father too. He’d tried talking Hylla out of her plans, but she was impossible to argue with, at least for their father. Reyna was good at arguing too, it was a trait from their mother. “A good queen stands by her opinions.” Or, as it usually felt for Reyna, the opinions she was supposed to have. 

After the ceremony, her father buried in the tomb next to her mother’s, Reyna hurries to her chambers. Her eyes and her throat are burning, but she still doesn’t cry. She’s thinking of removing her dress and go to sleep, but she’s expected outside, at the feast held in honor to her father, the King. She just needs a moment to collect herself, that’s all.  
When she gets back out, the people get silent. She’s their Queen now. They all stand up a little straighter, and the all bow for her when she walks past them. It’s not strange. She’s been standing by her father’s side for the past 10 years. The King never married again after Reyna’s mother. He said he wouldn’t love again, and he was better off alone anyway. Reyna would help him rule. In secret, of course, because the people of New Rome wouldn’t want a twelve year old helping the King with important decisions. But Reyna was a brilliant twelve year old, and as she aged, she got better. She only walked beside her father as the Crown Princess, but in her mind and to her father, she had been a Queen.  
And now she was one, since two days back, officially. Her coronation would be in a week, so the kingdom would have just a little time to mourn their King before a new era started. 

For Reyna, the feast was is pain. A dozen of princes and noblemen offers their hand in marriage, others want to discuss business. Reyna kindly tells them all this is not a good day, and they’ll have to come back after her coronation. She wants this week to be free of important decisions. Her mother wouldn’t like that, but she needs a week to relax. It will be her last week of non life-changing decisions hanging over her. 

That was what she was hoping for.


	2. The Warning

Reyna

Only the next day, she’s awoken by her favorite maid, Hilda. Hilda has been with her for as long as Reyna can remember. Before her mother’s funeral, Hilda had cried while doing Reyna’s hair. Yesterday, she’d cried again. Reyna didn’t think that made her look weaker. She was strangely comforted by Hilda’s tears. Hilda smiled sadly through her tears, apologising. Reyna smiled back at her. “It’s okay,” she said. “You can cry my tears for me.” Hilda nodded. That felt good to Reyna. Like it got acknowledged that she missed her father too, no matter how bad a parent he had been.

“You’re needed in the throne room,” Hilda says now, gently stroking Reyna’s hair. That was how she woke Reyna when needed. Others would shout at her until she was wide awake, but Hilda had always been gentle with her. Reyna was though, but she didn’t mind being treated with care now and then. Hilda understood that, she always had.   
Reyna is tempted to pull the covers to her chin and go back to sleep, not wanting to face her responsibilities. But she would face them, of course. Reyna was never one to back down when needed.   
Hilda steps away from her, and walks towards the closet. She come back with a light gray dress. It has long sleeves, wider from the elbows and down. The skirt begins just above the hips. It’s simple, but beautiful, Reyna supposes, as all her dresses are. Hilda doesn’t trust Reyna to get dressed by herself. She is told she is beautiful, but she can’t see it. She also doesn’t really mind. Your face doesn’t make you a good leader. It gets you wed, or it gets you to bed, and Reyna isn’t interested in either. The same goes for clothing. Therefore Hilda, or another maid comes to Reyna every morning, to make sure she looks good. Some people think her reign will be more successful if she looks good. Reyna lets them think that. Just because she doesn’t care doesn’t mean she minds looking nice.   
They walk to the mirror, and Reyna gets out of her night gown. She sees Hilda reaching for a corset, and turns around to look at her with pleading eyes. Corsets are awful. They hurt, and only women needs to use them, because a woman has to look beautiful all the time, and beautiful means a skinny waist. Reyna doesn’t like that. “The dress will look much more beautiful if you wear it,” Hilda says with an exhausted look on her face. She knows well enough that getting in an argument with Reyna is pointless.   
“Yes,” Reyna replies. “But I wore one yesterday, and it can’t be good for my ribs to wear it all the time, they already hurt. I think they’re broken.” She’s joking, of course, but it is working.” “And besides, I won’t meet a lot of people today.” Hilda scoffs, but she smiles a little, and she puts the corset aside. Reyna gets her dress on, and Hilda braids her hair. That’s how Reyna always keep her hair on more casual days. Once braided, her hair reaches down almost to her waist. Some strands of her dark hair hang loose around her face. Reyna looks at herself in the mirror. She looks just like her usual self, if only a little more tired. Before she gets to leave, Hilda is there applying some make-up to Reyna’s face. She sighs, then thanks Hilda, and hurries out of the chambers.   
A knight walks her all the way from her chambers to the throne room. That’s another thing about being royal. She never gets privacy, there’s always someone who’ll want to kill her, which leads to her being guarded at all times. Then again, she doesn’t really require privacy, she has grown up without any, and there is somehow a comfort in knowing someone is guarding your door at night. 

They, Reyna and the knight, arrive to the throne room just minutes later. Reyna climb the three steps up to the thrones and sits down in the one that belongs to the Queen, the knight stops just below, hand on his sword. The throne on her right side stands empty. She thinks of all proposals she got the day before and shudders. She realise she will have to marry one day. She just hopes she can postpone it for a much longer time. 

“Well,” Reyna says, her voice cold, to no one in particular, as she can’t see anyone. “What could possibly be a matter for the Queen this early?” Two guards emerge from the very back corner of the room. Both guards drags one boy each by their arms. They boys are flustered, and they look terrified. The guards faces are stern, but their eyes shine with smugness and victory. The boys must be some wanted criminals, based on how pleased the guards seems, Reyna thinks. She doesn’t recall some major crime has happened in the last couple of days, but she has had other things to think about.   
One of the guards shoves his boy to his left, where the other guard catches his arm, and he steps forward, bowing to her before he starts talking. Reyna imagines he must be the one higher positioned of them two.   
“Your majesty,” he says, standing straighter. “We found these two young men, ah, being intimate.” His face was now a light pink, as if he was embarrassed to say the words out loud. Reyna feels her stomach twist. She is supposed to give these two boys, who can’t be older than 17, a death sentence, for being with someone they love. And it hurts her, because she could’ve ended up just like them, if she was born someone else’s daughter. She clears her throat.   
“I don’t see how any of this is of my concern.”   
“Your highness, this is in your highest interests,” the guard says. “You surely understand we, you, must clean this kingdom from disgraces like them.” She swallows hard. Disgrace.   
“And, say, where did you find these young men you brought?” Reyna asks them, trying to sound as if she doesn’t care.   
“At the pub, your majesty,” says the guard. The guard in the back’s eyes widen at that, realizing his colleague's mistake.   
“Interesting,” Reyna says, a smile threatening to appear on her lips. No guards could possibly have had free time enough to go to the pub, not with all reinforcements needed around the funeral. Realization strikes the guard talking, and he quickly steps back.   
“My Queen,” he begins, but Reyna holds up a hand to silence him.   
“Take the young men to the dungeons, separate rooms, mind you,” she says. “Yesterday was a hard day for all of us, therefore we shall not punish these boys as hard as we usually would. The same goes for the two of you.” She knows it’s stupid, but she can’t have them killed, she just can’t. “You,” she says, looking both of the guards directly in the eyes. “Well, I can’t have my guards running around drinking while they are supposed to ensure my safety. You are no longer servants of the court.” Her words seems to be worse than a strike to the face. Good, she thinks.   
“Your majesty,” the guard says. His voice is pleading, but his eyes are fire. He will want to get back at her, some day. This was stupid, but there was no other options, not for her. Her mother would be ashamed if she saw her.   
“Leave.” Reyna stands, and her voice is deadly. The men hurries out of the room, now gripping the boys by their necks. She would like to call the guards on it, but she would also like her rule to last more than four days.   
When they’re out of the room, and out of sight, Reyna slumps down on the chair. She is trembling. She shouldn’t have saved their lives. The guards would spread the word that she’d defended faggots, who were, in the eyes of most people, worth less than rats, and her rule would be over before she knew it. But it was too late to turn back, and she wasn’t sure she could order them executed, after all. She could kill a man, if that was what it took to prove herself a worthy leader, but not an innocent one. And not two innocent boys. Only, they weren’t innocent. They’d broken the law, and one important one, and for that the owed their heads. 

Reyna sighs and closes her eyes. She barely notices the knight appearing in front of her. She’d forgotten he was in the room, and allowed him to see weakness from her. She curses herself. This is not a good day.  
“While that was honorable and all,” he says. “I’m not sure that was such a good idea.” Reyna glances up. It’s a light voice, so the boy under the armor can’t be more than 14. But his tone indicates otherwise. Reyna sighs. The knight then takes off his helmet. Reyna gasps, just a little, when she sees it’s not a boy at all, but a woman. Her dark hair is cropped short, like a man’s. She’s got startling blue eyes, like the sky when it’s at its bluest, just before nightfall. The eyelashes around her eyes are thick and dark, just like her hair. The woman’s mouth is set in a hard line. It’s strange, Reyna was certain women weren’t allowed to be warriors.   
“You’re a woman,” Reyna says, realizing how stupid it sounds.   
“Really?” the woman says, rolling her eyes. She gets that reaction every once in a while, Reyna figures. The woman then looks at her, looking a bit uncomfortable. “Your majesty,” she adds. Reyna smiles and shakes her head. The woman is the first person in a long time daring to speak with sarcasm to her. A small smile tugs on the other womans lips, but it’s gone so fast, Reyna thinks she might’ve imagined it. 

“There is something I need to tell you,” the warrior woman says. “And I believe you’ll want to hear me out on this one.” Her facial expression doesn’t make it seem like good news. Reyna braces herself.   
“What is it?” she asks, sounding as calm as she can. She’s gripping the armrests on the throne to keep her hands still.   
“I overheard my fellow men in the army,” the woman begins, her eyes everywhere but on Reyna. “They don’t believe a woman should rule this country by herself.” Reyna raises an eyebrow.   
“And what could they possibly do about it?” she asks, almost feeling better. The Ramirez-Arellanos had been on the throne for over a century, it wouldn’t be easy to put her down. The woman bites her lip.   
“I’m not sure,” she says. “But they sound sure they’ll succeed.” Reyna snorts.   
“They’re men, they don’t believe they can fail.” Her voice is confident, but her mind is spinning. “Why are you telling me this?” Reyna asks, wanting to eliminate the option of all this being some sort of test.   
The woman looks her straight in the eye, no longer as intimidated by the Queen. “I’ve fought hard to become a warrior. Harder than any man ever has. I’ve been in the army longer than most, and yet none of them will listen to me. I figured if they won’t listen to their Queen, they will never listen to me. So,” she says, looking dead serious. “I am going to prove women, not just myself, but you too, to be worthy leaders. So we all can be respected”   
“And how, exactly, are you planning on doing that?” Reyna asks her, eyes squinting. While it sounds good in theory, it’s not an easy accomplishment.   
“I told you,” she says. “Getting people to believe in you.”   
“I don’t need your help to rule my kingdom,” Reyna replies.  
“Maybe,” the other woman replies, shrugging. “Or, your people will turn against you, hundreds of knights leading them.” Reyna shudders.   
“You really think they would do that?” she asks in disbelief. Sure, some men might be angry with New Rome being led by a woman, but they wouldn’t revolt. They couldn’t, if they did, Reyna was dead. If her own servants and guards turned on her, she would have nowhere to go. But there hadn’t been a revolt for so long, it wasn’t likely to happen now. No matter how unpleased the people were, they wouldn’t dare. The other woman looks at Reyna almost pitying.   
“I hear the other knights talk,” is all she says.   
“Words from men don’t mean much.” She’s thinking of her father. That’s one of the few things she learned from him.   
“I’m sure they have plans. They just won’t talk about them when I’m around. Like I told you, they don’t trust women.” The other woman sounds desperate, grasping for something that will make the Queen trust her. Because she wants help. Reyna won’t fall for it.   
“If you hear something that confirmes what you have said, feel free to reach out again,” Reyna says, regaining her secure tone. She made it clear enough that the conversation is over, because the woman nod and walks away. Just in case, Reyna calls out just before she reaches the doors. “Your name?” The woman doesn’t even bother to stop.   
“Thalia Grace, at your service.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand there we go with the first 'actual' chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, please leave me a kudos or a comment telling me what was good/what can be better. I posted a chapter two days in a row now, that won't be something that'll happen again, this was just what I'd already written. I think it'll be about 3-4 weeks till next chapter, but I'll post as soon as I'm finished. Come talk to me on tumblr, Annabethsolympus, in the meantime. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


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